Adjustable interlocking clamp.



H. L. HARTBURG.

musmsu: LNTERLOCKING CLAMP.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT, 28. I9! 7.

Patented May 6, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

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H. L. HARTBURG.

ADJUSTABLE INTEHLOCKING CLAMP.

APPLICATION FlLED SEPT. 2a. 19w.

Patented May 6, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

I is: STA S l/Ehl isms.

ADJ USTABLE INTER/LOCKING CLAMP.

To all whom it may'concern Be it known that I, HERMAN.L. 'Han'rr BURG, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Denver, county of Denver, and State of Colorado,.have.invented a certain new, useful, andiImproved. Adjustable Interlocking Clamp, of whichthefollowing is a specification.

-My invention" relates generally tov means forsuspending'pipes, shaftsgand other de vicesrfrom beams and other supports, .and relates more particularly to adjustable means for; that purpose. k l

The general object ,of,my' invention is to provide I clamping means ;for supporting pipes, shafts and. other devices which shall be easilyadjustableto embrace supporting means of widely different sizes and charactel. '1

Other, objects of my inventionareto provide an adjustable, clampwhich shall be of simple and durable construction; which can be manufactured atlow cost; which can be made of associated: identical parts; and which can. be securely, locked; together by a standard bolt that may be used for the suspension of the pipe or shaft of the device aswell. I j p, p j

I am awarethat it has been proposed heretofore to make adjustable clamps, but such clamps have-been and are objectionable in that'they areadapted to besecured to only a very limited range of beamsize; or comprise a multiplicity of, parts.- some. of which are easilya ostl us de y ng he u i ity. of the structure; such prior devices are often eX- pensive tomanu facture and require considerable time to assemble for require special bolts and hooks of. different kinds.

ven n... c s sts en r y i the form, arrangemen QO Struction and cooperation of partswhereby the above named objects, together with others which will appear hereinafter, are attainable.

My invention will be more readily under. stood by reference to the ;accompanying drawings, ;which; illustrate; that form which I have thus far found to be the best. i

In said drawings: 1 Q j E'surelis per pec e View o a de i embodying. my invention illustrated in its relation'to an I-beambygmeans of dot-and dash lines;

E s-.2. iea aresta n .ma man? Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 6, rare.

Application filed September 28, 1917. Serial No..193,698.

' clamp secured to the base of a beam together with means supporting a pipe;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the device illustrating the relation to the parts of a beam by means of dot-and-dash lines;

,Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3, but illustrating the devices embracing a wider beam;

Fig; 5, is a cross-section substantially on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3;

.Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a modified form of myinvention adapted particularly toattachment to channel members; and

Fig. 7 is an end view, on a reduced scale, showing the relation of the clamp partsand golt of that form of my invention shown in My'device comprises generally two telescoping parts or units in one form of which the units are identical, having a hook-like end for engagement with the parts of the supporting beam. These units may be moved to and from each other through a wide range as may be necessary to embrace many sizes of beams. Having positioned the units properly, I lock them against undesired movement by means of an ordinary bolt the head of which engages the clamp units and the shank of which may be con- I nected to means embracing the pipe, shaft,

:effective means for accomplishing the desired ends. Referring now to the drawings for the details of construction, 2 represents one of two identical clamp units composed of the body portion, 3, and an upstanding hook-like end portion, 4. The body portion,

3, comprises parallel vertical side portions,

55', and an integral angularly disposed upper and lower portions,6 6, 6 thus beingchannel shaped in cross section. On the outer face of the side portion, 5, I form a plurality of teeth-like projections, 7 and upon the inner face of the side portion, 5, I provide a single tooth-like projection, 10.

The upper angular portion, 6 is offset with respect to the verticalside portion, 5, to ac commodate the angular portion, 6, of another identical clamp unit, as is well shown in Fig. 5. The overhanging or angular portion, 6 is also cut away as indicated at 11, so that the parts may telescope into a very small compass without having the portion, 6 engaging the hook-like end ortion of the clamp unit. The end-hook-li e portion, 4 comprises a beam-engaging portion, 12, which is preferably inclined upwardly and inwardly so that it may properly embrace the base, 13, of a beam, as is well shown in Figs. 1 and 2. I brace the beam-engaging portion, 12, by means of vertical ribs, 14, which rise from the body of the clamp member. I11 assembling the device, one clamp member is merely reversed and inserted partly within and partly without the other member as is well shown in the drawings. hen in this position the teeth-like projections, 7, on the outer part of each clamp, engage the single tooth-like projections, 10, on the inner face of the other member. The parts obviously may be moved to and from each other when the teeth are disengaged. Thus, as is illustrated in Fig. 3, they are moved so that the hook-like end portions are relatively close together and in Fig. 4. they are moved farther apart to embrace a wider beam. It is necessary that the memhere when placed in desired position be locked in that position against undesired movement and this I accomplish in a very simple manner. It will be noted that when the parts are assembled a channel-like space, 15, shown in Fig. 5 is formed between the opposite portions, 5, of the respective clamp units, and that access may be had thereto by means of the slot, 16, in the bottom of the clamp. I am thus enabled to place in the space, 15, the head, 17, of a bolt, 18, by starting the bolt in from the end of the slot, 16. I move the bolt inwardly until it occupies substantially a central position between the ends of the respective clamp units. The bolt head, 17, is of a size substantially equal to the width of the space, 15, being just enough smaller to permit its free insertion. As it is necessary in assembling parts to move the side walls, 5, 5, of the respective clamps toward each other so that the teeth, 7, may be freed of the engaging tooth, 10, such movement is prevented when the bolt head, 17, is in place as the very slight movement which is permitted by the bolt-head, 10, is not sufiicient to permit the teeth tobecome disengaged. The bolt, 18, may be an ordinary stock bolt, having a screw threaded end,

19, as illustrated in Fig. 2. In Fig. 2 I have illustrated one means of suspending a pipe, 20, which consists in providing a split band, 21, embracing the pipe, and having a hole, 22, through which the screw threaded end, 19,, of the bolt projects. The load is carried by means of a nut, 23, threaded upon the bolt end, 19, under the upper portion, 24, of the pipe-engaging band, 21. An upstanding projection, 25, at the end of the bottom portion, 6 of the clamp unit prevents the head of the bolt from sliding out of clamp when the parts are in position and the load is carried thereby.

The construction thus far described is adapted particularly for use with beams havin a s mmetrical base such for exam le as the I-beam illustrated, but my invention is not limited to use with such beams, as I may embrace beams having a non-symmetrical base,as, for example, th base of a channel member. I have illustrated in Fig. 6 a modification of my invention adapted for use with such beams. In this instance in stead of using two identical units I use one unit, which is the same as those already described, and bears similar reference characters. The other part or unit corresponds in its body portion to the clamp units already described, and I have applied similar reference characters thereto. Itdiffers, however, in the form of the beam-engaging portion, 30, which instead of having an inwardly projecting hook end has a flat vertical face portion, 31, upstanding from the body of the clamp member for engagement with the adjacent flat vertical face of the channel member as illustrated in Fig. 6, and the face portion, 31, isrigidly braced by means of ribs, 32. The parts or units may be locked together in the same manner by means of a bolt and bolt-head. It may be desirable, if the beam is subjected to considerable vibration, to provide a set screw, 33, which may be powerfully braced against the side face of the channel member. When using the device of the form shown in Fig. 6, I prefer to keep the bolt head fairly well toward that clamp having the hooked end so that as little of the load as is possible is carried upon the member, 30, and to this end I prefer to provide a stop, 35, to prevent the bolt from being placed in a position to impose'severe strains on the unit 30 (see Fig. 7).

From this detailed description it is thought that the objects and purposes of my invention and its advantages will be understood by those skilled in the art to which this appertains, but inasmuch as this disclosure will readily suggest to others modified structures whereby the substantial ob jects and purposes of my invention may be attained, I do not wish to be limited to the specific construction herein shown and described, except only as may be necessary by limitation in the hereunto appended'claims.

I claim:

1. In a device of the class described, a clamp unit, comprising a body portion and a beam-engaging end portion, said body portion comprising spaced side walls, and upper and lower angularly projecting portions, one

of said angularly projecting portions being off-set with respect to its side Wall to per mit intimate sliding relation of a coacting clamp unit.

2. In a device of the class described a clamp unit, comprising a body portion and a beam-engaging end portion, said body portion comprising spaced side walls, and upper and lOWer angularly projecting portions, one of said angularly projecting portions being off-set with respect to its side wall to permit intimate sliding relation of a co-acting clamp unit and said beam-engaging portion being undercut to permit movement thereunder of the end portion of an identical unit.

3. In a device of the class described, a clamp unit, comprising a body portion and a beam-engaging end portion, said body portion comprising spaced side walls and upper andlower angularly projecting portions, one of said angularly projecting portions being off-set with respect to its side Wall to permit intimate sliding relation of a co-acting clamp unit, a plurality of teeth-like projections on one of said side walls, and at least oneiltooth-like projection on the other side wa 4. In a device of the class described, a clamp unit comprising a body portion and a beam-engaging end portion, said body portion comprising spaced side walls, and upper and lower angularly projecting portions, one of said angularly projecting portions being off-set with respect to its side wall to permit intimate sliding relation of a co-acting clamp unit, a plurality of teeth-like projections on the outer face of one side Wall, and at least one tooth-like projection on the'in ner face of the other side Wall.

5. In a device of the class described, a clamp unit comprising a body portion and a beam-engaging end portion, said body portion comprising spaced side walls, and upper and lower angularly projecting portions, one of said angularly projecting portions be ing off-set with respect to its side Wall to permit intimate sliding relation of a coacting clamp unit, and one of said side Walls be ing of a lesser height than the other.

*6. In a device of the class described, a clamp unit comprising a body portion and a beam-engaging end portion, said body portion comprising spaced side walls, and up per and lower angularly projecting portions, one of said angularly projecting portions being ofi-set with respect to its side walls to permit intimate sliding relation of a coacting clamp unit, one of said angularly projecting portions having an upstanding stop portion.

7. In a device of the class described, a clamp unit comprising a body portion and a hook-like beam-engaging end portion, said body portion comprising spaced side Walls, and upper and lower angularly projecting portions, one of said angularly projecting portions being offset with respect to its side wall to permit intimate sliding relation of an identical clamp unit.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 12th day of September, 1917.

HERMAN L. HARTBURG.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. W 

